Study on the Romanesque bell tower of small churches in the south Burgandy

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K04465
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 23040:Architectural history and design-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Nishida Masatsugu 京都工芸繊維大学, デザイン・建築学系, 教授 (80198473)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: ロマネスク / 鐘塔 / クリュニー / 教会堂 / 中世建築 / シンボリズム / 建築考古学 / 建築論

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Having integrated materials, data, documents and discoveries obtained from our own architectural surveys, mainly on measurements, conducted over many years on small Romanesque churches existing in Burgundy, southern France, this study argues that the architectural characteristics of the bell-towers on Romanesque churches are architecturally independent and autonomous, through design analysis based on archaeological observation, and examination of documentary materials and theological symbolism from the Middle Ages. This research clarifies the architectural ornaments and dimensional plans of the bell-towers, and analyzes the theological symbolism of the squares, heights, and numbers that appear in the architectural dimensions. Thus, our study led us to conclude that the bell-towers, although a part of an architectural ensemble of a church, may have been perceived by people in the Middle Ages as quasi-independent monuments.

Free Research Field

西洋建築史・意匠

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

中世建築の認知論的解釈や、空間や形態や構造に見る中世の建築的心性理解を「鐘塔」に対して、建築考古学をベースにしながら明らかにした点は、歴史建築解釈に関する包括的ビジョンの提示となる。本研究が示した、中世当時の人々が自律する諸部分の集合として建築を認識し、彼らが自律建築と考えた重要な部分が鐘塔であるとのビジョンは、全体を統一的に一貫した造形でデザインした建築に価値を置く近代的ヴィジョンの最高に繋がる。また化財建造物の保存・修復においても、昨今問題となる「全体性（インテグリティー）」の考えの相対化を通して得られる創造的視点につながりであろう。